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RedHatMagic Loyal user UK 239 Posts |
Rule 1: Relax
In most real world events (weddings parties etc) you could take their card, stick it up your nose, take it out again, lick it clean and put it back in the pack and no one would notice In the real world you can get away with murder Don't regard the dirty hand as important, look where you want them to look, relax, relax relax relax (Families and friends are harder to misdirect).
Let the Entertainment Commence!
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Tim Snyder Regular user Chicago, IL 112 Posts |
Quote:
On Jul 16, 2017, RedHatMagic wrote: The best example of this that I have seen was on Doc Eason's first Live Bar Magic video. I think it was his "peeked card to under the glass." The moves were extremely blatant, especially for the card's last location. His manner and misdirection were so smooth that no one caught him. He talked about being nervous performing the routine at a magic convention / lecture. He thought surely a magician will catch him on the last move. NOPE. Not a single magician noticed the move. |
RobertlewisIR Veteran user Colorado 367 Posts |
It's true you could get away with just about anything in the real world, BUT you still have to be good. Misdirection requires at least a passing understanding of the psychology of perception and it requires an engaging personality and stage presence. Doc Eason got away with those moves, I'm sure, in large part because everyone was having a good time watching. They weren't worried about catching him at his moves because they were just enjoying his performance.
RedHat also points out something of vital importance that beginners might not realize: performing for family and friends SUCKS. They might be the most supportive people in the world, but they don't interact with you the same way other audiences will, they're much harder to control, and, especially if you've been at it for a while, they've probably developed a strong sense of exactly where they're not supposed to be looking. Doesn't mean it can't be done, but I learned when I was a teenager that the trick I use on a stranger is probably not the same trick to use on my mother (who remains probably the hardest audience I've ever had).
~Bob
---------- Last night, I dreamed I ate the world's largest marshmallow. When I woke up, the pillow was gone. |
P.L.Green New user Asturias (SPAIN) 59 Posts |
Quote:
On Jul 19, 2017, RobertlewisIR wrote: In my limited experience, this is linked to the fact that they SEE you as a father/mother/sibling/.... playing "magic tricks" with them, and not as a magician performing for them. I practice with my three kids and they most of the time are focused on discovering what is going on "behind the scenes". Recently I performed a small routine for my son's friends during his birthday party (12-13 year old) and they all where astonished to see that my son's father WAS a magician. And this, with very basic tricks requiring very limited sleights.
Can you keep a secret?.....So can I ;o)
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DaveGripenwaldt Elite user 487 Posts |
So true, Red.
One of the reasons that is true is because in the real world you get natural off-beats and anyone who learns to do the dirty work during the off-beats is miles ahead of the game. And for any newbies, you can learn about off beats in the real world by paying attention to the way audiences react to something you do. Perform an effect that doesn't demand any particular misdirection and watch how your spectators react...when they pay attention, and especially when they let their reaction break their concentration and they let their guards down. They make comments to each other...look around in amazement, laugh, etc. Learn to do the dirty work largely in those spaces and you to can easily do the nasal magic Red mentioned. |
ThSecret Regular user 147 Posts |
Tim, that Doc Easton Bar Magic film was great! Even after the second time, when I knew he would do it again, I still couldn't catch him haha. Either he has super fast reflexes or he's really good at what he does.
I find with family, it's less about entertainment, and more about am I being fooled, what "trick" are you showing me, what's the "move"?, are you holding two cards, are you hiding a card? Where as in real life whether it is spontaneous or a stage show, people know what they see may or may not be real, but they are there more there to be entertained. The magician brings the spectator into his own world, and the spectator forgets everything except what they are seeing in that moment. For me the effects of some insane illusion that is not humanly possible, or a simple effect performed very well (that I know the mechanics of), are almost equivalent in enjoyment. So it is not so much What is being performed as it is How it is being performed. Dave - That's a really good suggestion. To add to that, maybe even record yourself/ audience to look over after performances.
"A play does not take place on stage but in the minds of the spectators."
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DaveGripenwaldt Elite user 487 Posts |
ThS,
Recording yourself is definitely a great way to learn. I remember in a Gene Anderson lecturer about being a "part-time pro", he said, "A magician's memory of applause far exceeds the memory of those who gave it". He was talking about how hard it is to evaluate a performance by simply thinking back on it...to hard to get the subjectivity out of it. He advocated taping every performance (and in that long-ago day he was talking about just having a cassette recorder running). Nothing beats seeing yourself, warts and all, to get a try sense of what areas need improvement. And, by the way, it is another way to see the off-beats in actual performance situations - kind of like a coach going over game footage. |
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